I've always loved driving through that part of Montana, and going to the hotsprings in the fall. Even though I live probably 3 to 400 miles away I cut the same grass just without the beautiful scenery you have. Cool season grasses have always been a pain to get the perfect or acceptable cut in 1 pass. But in the larger lawns it's hard to justify any double cutting. I would keep experimenting with blades, hi lift definately helps. I would try up to 3/8 inch of pitch too. I don't know how your Hustler compares in quality of cut but would think the Gravely would do much better. I didn't like the x factor for mulching much but never tried it side discharging. It's always a battle to find the right mower setup for these grasses.

Sadly both my Hustler SZ, and my Ferris 48", Encore 36", Exmark 48" walk behinds all leave or left a cleaner cut. Once I get this figured out this will be the machine though. It's saving me time over even my SZs which I wasn't expecting. Clipping dispersal was a concern of mine with the deck design before I bought it, but this thing is amazing when it comes to dispersal. Hopefully getting the straggler deal corrected doesn't throw off the dispersal.